


When We Collide

by iamsiriuslyriddikulus



Category: How to Get Away with Murder
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 14:28:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2815427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamsiriuslyriddikulus/pseuds/iamsiriuslyriddikulus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A companion fic to my color verse. This fic looks at Aiden and Connor's relationship and its development through the years</p>
            </blockquote>





	When We Collide

Connor leans back in his bed and presses the blunt between his lips. “So, Aid, if you could fuck any celebrity, which one would you choose?”

“Brad and Angelina. And Beyoncé of course.”

“You’re just saying that because of your stupid obsession with _Mr. and Mrs. Smith_ ,” Connor says, rolling his eyes. He hands Aiden the blunt and turns on his side to face him.

“It’s the best movie of the past five years,” Aiden says.

“Keep saying that.” Connor closes his eyes for a moment and lets his head spin. There is nothing more soothing than the scents of Aiden’s cologne and weed mingling together.

“What about you?”

He opens his eyes just in time to catch Aiden blow a ring of smoke up. “Huh?”

“Which one would you fuck?”

“Heath Ledger probably. Or Emile Hirsch. Did you see him in _Into the Wild_?” Connor grins and pulls the blunt from Aiden’s fingers. He takes a drag and sighs happily. “That’s such a fucking good movie.”

“Yeah, I know. You only talk about it a lot.” Aiden nudges him, and Connor grins.

“What?”

“You look like a mess. When are you going to cut that hair of yours?” Aiden reaches out and wraps a strand around his finger.

“When it stops pissing off my parents.” There is technically nothing in dress code at their school about hair, though he gets looks from the headmaster because of it.

“You look like a shaggy dog,” Aiden says.

“Maybe I like it that way.” Connor laughs as he presses the blunt up to his lips again. Aiden moves over him and presses their lips together. The smoke passes from his mouth to Aiden’s, and Connor reaches up with his free hand to cup Aiden’s cheek. His eyes close as his breath hitches. Their lips part, and Connor’s tongue presses against Aiden’s in a messy kiss. He tastes of coffee and smoke, and Connor pulls him closer until he feels the blunt burn at his fingers.

He pulls back and whines before stubbing it out against the ashtray by their bed. “Stupid thing.”

“Yeah, well, where were we?” Aiden tugs him back down and slides one hand down over his stomach and between his legs. He palms Connor’s cock, and Connor whines as he arches up.

“And people say I’m impatient,” Connor teases. He bites his lip as Aiden sucks a hickey onto his neck.

“Well, I’m only impatient when it comes to you,” Aiden says. His tongue presses against the purple mark, and he works with his free hand to undo the buttons on Connor’s shirt. “I hate this goddamn uniform. It makes having sex so inconvenient.”

\- - -

“Jesus, Connor.”

“Go away.

“You weren’t in the room. I was worried.”

“I didn’t want to come in.”

“Is this about the fight we had earlier?”

Connor makes the mistake of looking at Aiden. Aiden looks ridiculous in his oversized rain jacket. He steps closer, and Connor frowns, shoving his hands in his pockets. His eyes make their way back down to the ground, and he scuffs at the dirt.

“Okay, so it is,” Aiden says. He sits down next to Connor on the bench and tries to wrap an arm around him, but something in Connor snaps, and he pushes Aiden off.

“Go away.”

“Look, I didn’t mean to piss you off.”

“Well, you should have thought of that before you said what you said.”

“I didn’t think it would offend you.” Aiden squeezes his brow. “You call yourself a slut all the time.”

“Because I’m allowed to call myself that. You’re my best friend.” There is a nagging voice in the back of his head telling him that he is being ridiculous, but he avoids Aiden’s gaze even when he can feel Aiden’s eyes seeking his out.

“I didn’t mean it in a bad way. At all.” He sighs. “You’ve slept with every queer boy at this school. And I’m pretty sure some that aren’t queer. I’m not saying that’s bad. You keep a _tally_ , Con. What is it – twelve?”

Connor can feel his defenses slipping. “Thirteen.”

“Thirteen? But there was…” Aiden begins listing them off, and when he gets to the end, Connor looks over. Aiden is mouthing the twelve names he listed and looks puzzled. “That’s twelve.”

“That’s because you’re forgetting you, idiot,” Connor says, rolling his eyes. A smile creeps up on his lips, and he moves in and cups Aiden’s cheek. He can feel Aiden bristle at how cold his hand is, and before he has a chance to linger, Aiden pulls away.

“You’re freezing.”

“It’s raining.”

“You’re going to catch a cold.”

“Thanks, mom,” Connor huffs. Still, he lets Aiden lead him in. When they get to the room, Aiden strips down Connor’s clothes and his own before stepping into the shower with him.

\- - -

“What do you think it’s like to see in color?” Aiden asks him as they lay in bed. His fingers card through Connor’s hair, and Connor closes his eyes.

“Overrated.”

“Okay, I know you don’t care that much, but aren’t you curious?”

“There’s no use worrying in it. Not everyone finds a soulmate, and thinking about it doesn't change anything. Besides, we’re seventeen, Aiden. Don’t you think we’re a little too young to be thinking about that?” He tilts his head up and opens his eyes. “I still have plenty of men to fuck before I even think about having a steady relationship or – God forbid – marriage.” He makes a fake gagging noise and shakes his head.

Aiden doesn’t respond for a minute, and the silence settles over them. By the look on Aiden’s face, Connor knows he is thinking through something.

“We’re kind of like a steady relationship.”

The comment catches him off-guard, and Connor laughs. “Aid, I get that we’ve been hooking up since the end of freshman year, but we’re far from a steady relationship.”

“Just because we’re not monogamous doesn’t mean it isn’t steady.” Connor avoids Aiden’s eyes and doesn’t respond. “So, you agree it is.”

“Steady doesn’t mean serious.”

Aiden laughs. “Oh calm down. You’re acting like I’m about to propose.”

“Well, we’re obviously not soulmates.”

“I realized.”

“So, is this a… thing we do until we meet them?” The question slips out awkwardly, and he feels Aiden’s fingers tighten around him. He presses his head against the crook of Aiden’s neck and bites his tongue, wishing he could take back the question.

“I don’t know.”

“I mean, what if you wander through life and never meet someone who can give you color?”

“Are you asking me if I’ll always be here for you, Connor?” Aiden’s hand slips under his chin, and he tilts Connor’s head up.

“I was absolutely not.” He can feel the heat crawling across his face, and Aiden tugs him up to press a kiss to his lips.

“Well, I plan on it. What are friends for?”

\- - -

“Connor, we need to be at the ceremony in ten minutes,” Aiden says.

“I’ll be ready.”

“You’d be ready an hour ago if you weren’t busy screwing one of the new teachers!” Aiden paces the room. Connor ignores his glare as he darts around the room, grabbing his suit.

“Well, I’m eighteen and officially done.”

“Not officially. They won’t give you your diploma if you’re not even there to receive it. Headmaster Jacobs is already out to get you and –”

“And knows better than to refuse me my diploma. My parents will bite off his head.” He ties his tie and turns to face Aiden. “How do I look?”

“Your hair is a mess.”

Connor darts into the bathroom and dips his fingers into his gel. He never was a morning person, so he’s used to rushing to get ready. He swishes some mouthwash and straightens his tie. When he steps out, Aiden has placed his graduation cap on his head and is busy fixing his tassel. He stops in the doorway and leans against the frame.

“Look at you.”

Aiden’s head jerks up, and he relaxes and grins. “Don’t look so bad yourself, Con.”

“Don’t I know it.” Connor puts on his graduation robes and grabs his cap. He moves toward the door. “I’ll race you there.”

They make it there just in time to slip into the line where they are supposed to be. They earn a few dirty looks from several teachers. They make their way into the auditorium and file into their seats. When Connor takes his diploma, he catches the eyes of the teacher he fucked. He smirks as he makes his way back down.

When it finishes, he hugs his parents as they remind him for what has to be the tenth time that they’re getting him at ten in the morning tomorrow.

“So no partying. Have your suitcase packed and ready to go,” his mother says, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

Connor goes straight to a party as soon as it’s all over. All the boys there cheer and take shots as they recount their best memories of the past twelve years. He and Aiden stumble back to their room at three in the morning and strip out of their clothes. Connor’s suitcase sits in a corner, packed the night before.

Aiden tugs him hips and pushes him down. Connor lets Aiden do as he wishes. Even when Aiden’s fingers tighten around his hips hard enough to leave bruises, he bites his lip. Each kiss is wrought with some unspoken desperation, and Connor can feel the dread build up in his stomach. It finally hits him – that which he’s been trying to deny it for the past few months – that this is it.

He rocks into Aiden as he fucks him, and his nails dig into Aiden’s back as he tries to pull him closer. Aiden comes first, but he rides it out and rocks into Connor until Connor comes onto Aiden’s hand.

They stay pressed forehead to forehead, Connor’s legs wrapped around Aiden’s waist and breathing unsteadily. When Aiden pulls out and tosses the condom, he does his best to steady his breath. He leans his head into the crook of Aiden’s neck and wraps his arms around Aiden’s waist. Aiden holds him, and Connor listens to his breathing until he falls asleep.

\- - -

The first few months, it’s easy enough to keep in touch. They send each other e-mails updating each other where they are. When college starts, it gets more difficult. Connor spends the first two weeks talking shit about his roommate and his professors. Aiden tells him that he likes his roommate, and Connor can’t help but feel a small bit of jealousy that does not disappear even when Aiden reassures him that “he’s not as great as you”.

It becomes more difficult as class work kicks in, but even then, Connor finds times when something happens and his first instinct is to want to tell Aiden.

He Skypes Aiden when he fucks his first T.A. And his first professor. Aiden laughs and tells him that he isn’t surprised.

He introduces Connor to his girlfriend sophomore year. She’s gorgeous, and Aiden beams and holds her hand all the way through the video call. Connor later shoots him an e-mail saying that he’s happy for him, but a part of him aches for days being sixteen and unafraid, wrapped in Aiden’s arms.

They talk two times junior year.

The first time is near the beginning when Connor drunkenly calls him on accident. He is caught off guard when Aiden picks up, drowsy and confused, mumbling his name into the phone, but they don’t get off for another four hours. Between catching up, they reminisce about high school. The fact that they fucked never once comes up, but it’s there in their laughter and in the silences after sentences that trail off.

The second time is when Aiden calls him at the end of the year to tell him that he and his girlfriend broke up. Connor is about to hook up with someone and leaves to talk to Aiden. “I don’t know why I called you,” Aiden tells him. “I haven’t even told my roommate.” A part of Connor feels flattered, and he does his best to ease Aiden’s mind. It’s difficult when he’s not there. The only ways he knows to calm Aiden down are physical – through small kisses to his jaw and by rubbing his temple and with gentle words whispered against his skin as he holds his hand. But he talks to him and reassures Aiden that he will be okay.

They don’t talk other than through comments on each other’s statuses on Facebook until Connor receives a message from Aiden asking him to come to his graduation. It’s a week after his, and though he extends the offer, Aiden can’t make his. Still, Connor flies to Aiden’s, and when he steps out in the airport and sees Aiden for the first time in four years, he doesn’t hesitate before flinging himself toward Aiden.

They wrap their arms around each other as Aiden tells him, “I’m glad you could make it.”

“Me too,” Connor says.

\- - -

Connor spends the first night on the couch. When he walks Aiden walk the next day, he can’t help but be reminded of the last time they were together. Aiden has more cords on him this time than he did in high school, and when he receives his diploma, Connor lets out an embarrassingly loud whoop.

They have dinner with Aiden’s parents, and Connor endures the series of questions about his future before thanking them profusely for paying for his meal. They smile politely, and Connor and Aiden make their way to their first party. They stop by three different ones, and Connor meets more friends than he can care to remember.

They take a cab back to Aiden’s place late, and Connor feels a crawling sense of déjà-vu. Aiden tugs him by his belt loops into his bedroom, and when they fuck, it is messy and needy. It is filled with four years of unspoken questions, and for the first time, Connor actively wishes that he doesn’t ever see in color and that Aiden doesn’t either. Aiden’s body is different than he remembers – larger, longer, and better built, and he tries to memorize each change as he kisses down him.

When they finish, they curl into each other and ignore the fact that they’re both sweaty and a wreck. “God, I missed you, Con,” Aiden says.

“I missed you too.”

\- - -

They make sure to visit each other throughout the summer, and Connor feels like he’s eighteen again. He wonders how they ever lost touch. In no way are they dating, and Connor knows it. He spends nights in other men’s beds, but he oddly finds himself counting down the days until he gets to see Aiden again.

Aiden comes to visit him a month after school starts. Aiden comes to Annalise Keating’s house an hour before they wrap up and waits for them. Between looking through papers and books, he talks with Aiden and apologizes for how busy he is.

He can see that Annalise is far from pleased with him for bringing someone in, and when it’s time for them to leave, Annalise clears her throat. “We’re not done with this case.” There are groans throughout, but Annalise shakes her head. “Mr. Walsh, you can stay behind to help go over and look for anything that can help with Bonnie and Frank.”

“But my friend –”

“Could have waited another hour to get here.”

“How long do I have to stay here?” he asks through gritted teeth.

“As long as they need you,” she says.

“He’s staying with me.”

“He can stay with me tonight,” Michaela pipes up. Connor has never particularly liked her, but none of that hatred compares to now.

“Problem solved, then,” Annalise says.

Connor gives Aiden a hug before he leaves, and he watches as they all file out. When they settle down to work again, he isn’t entirely sure if the look Bonnie gives him is pitying, but Bonnie has always been difficult to read.

He winds up there until two in the morning and finds his apartment empty except for Aiden’s suitcase. He doesn’t have the energy to even cook for himself, and he falls asleep quickly.

He wakes up to the sound of his phone ringing, and Aiden’s name flashing across his screen. He curses as he sees the time – eleven in the morning – and picks up. “I’m so fucking sorry, Aid. I slept in later than I meant to. I was working late and –”

“Connor, really, it’s fine. There’s been an… interesting turn of events.”

“Interesting?” Connor asks. There is something to Aiden’s voice that he doesn’t like – something close to anticipation, and Connor stretches and sits up. “What’s up?”

“I slept with Michaela last night.”

“Jesus, she’s a bitch. How could you do that?”

“Michaela told me you wouldn’t be too happy about that.”

“Oh, you two gossiping about me, then?” Connor asks. He frowns and gets up, running a hand through his hair.

“Connor, I can see color.”

Connor feels his stomach drop, and he lets out a shaky breath.


End file.
